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The Sanford Police Department is backing off a proposal to ban Neighborhood Watch members from carrying guns, but it still wants volunteers to leave their firearms at home and will make that recommendation at a community meeting Tuesday night, police Chief Cecil Smith said Monday.

“We originally came out with a stern, ‘You should not,'” Smith said. “We took a second look at it.”

“What you are doing is asking people to be out in their community, be visible and take note of what’s going on,” [Sean Caranna, executive director of Florida Carry] said. “They can be more of a target for criminal aggression. We certainly don’t want the only person to be armed in a confrontation to be a criminal.”

Phil Unser, Neighborhood Watch coordinator in Wedgefield in east Orange County, said he disapproves of the policy change for similar reasons.

If a Neighborhood Watch volunteer was driving home with a gun in the car and saw someone breaking into a house, for example, would he have to take his gun home and lock it up before reporting the crime to the police?